Last Christmas
by Emo Owl
Summary: What could be more awkward than a Christmas party in a room of cops that hate you for your Mr. Darcy/ Elizabeth Bennett style rejection of the Konoha police force's golden boy the year before? Oh yeah, the Uchiha matriarch's romantic meddling, a drunken fox boy, and the chief's very flammable Christmas sweater. ItaSaku AU


What could be more awkward than a Christmas party in a room of cops that hate you for your Mr. Darcy/ Elizabeth Bennett style rejection of the Konoha police force's golden boy the year before? Oh yeah, the Uchiha matriarch's romantic meddling, a drunken fox boy, and the chief's very flammable Christmas sweater.

"Okay. I can do this. I am an intelligent, beautiful, and poised woman. I can make it through anything with elegance, tact, and dignity. I can do this."

The mutterings of the pink-haired beauty were punctuated by the tap of her bare feet hitting her cold, hard wood floor. Confidence and determination shone brightly in her large, emerald green eyes as she repeated her mantra over and over again, her confidence growing with each repetition. When she finally began to believe her own words, she picked up her phone and pushed the familiar speed dial.

"Sasuke." She greeted when the ringing stopped. "I can't do this. You'll just have to tell your mom I have the flu." Her grin melted off her face as she gave in to the voice in her head screaming it was a bad idea.

It wasn't like the pinkette to give up. In fact, there was nothing more aggravating to her than a quitter, but some battles were just better off not being fought.

An exasperated sigh came over the line.

"Sakura, you know that's not going to happen. If you're more than half an hour late, she'll send someone to collect you." Sasuke reminded.

"Sasuke!" She heard his mother yell across the house all the way through the phone, which was apparently on speaker. "Are you done cleaning the bathroom?"

"No, mother!" He yelled back, irritation seeping into his voice as his teeth started to grind together. Sakura stifled a giggle at the mental image of her oldest friend leaning over the toilet with a scrub brush and a scowl. For some reason, in her mind, he was wearing one of his mother's aprons to protect his expensive clothes.

"Who are you talking too?" She yelled back as pans crashed somewhere in the distance. "Is it Sakura-chan?" Sakura could just feel the excitement oozing from the bubbly tone of the woman's voice. She groaned as she imagined her actually sending someone to pick her up to make sure that she wasn't going to try to skip the party.

"Yes, ma'am." Sasuke yelled back, still sounding aggravated.

"Well, when you're finished, go pick her up! I could use another girl to help with the decorations." She called.

"Yes, ma'am." A smirk had crept into his voice as he answered.

"Oh no." Sakura stated bluntly. "There is no way in hell I'm going to that party. She'll just have to be happy with having Naruto—"

"Naruto is only going to be there for the last bit of the party because his godfather's in town. Besides, she's much rather have you here than Naruto." Of course she would; she'd been calling Sakura her future daughter-in-law for years. "He should be getting here around the same time that Itachi gets off work."

Her shoulders visibly relaxed as she took in that bit of news.

Sasuke's brother was an interesting, unpredictable enigma.

He was absolutely brilliant; finished high school an entire year early before getting a degree in a criminal psychology and law enforcement at a top university. He'd then returned home to Konoha to join the police force like most of the men in his family had done before him. It was the perfect job for him; he had the power to ruin lives and strike terror into the hearts of people everywhere, and he did so with pride.

According to the chief's bragging, he was getting very close to being promoted to detective—a very prestigious honor for someone his age—and from there he would probably try to get into some other higher up law enforcement agency. Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto couldn't wait for that day to come.

For some odd reason he'd always hated the trio. He'd been nothing short of cruel to Sasuke for years, and he'd even gone out of his way to torment her and Naruto as well when he wasn't staring at them in cold silence like he was too good to speak to them. That's why she felt it was completely acceptable when she punched the hell out of the proud, contemptful bastard after he'd ambushed her under the mistletoe, told her he had missed her while she had been away at college, and slammed his mouth down on hers. You just didn't _do_ that to a person, especially not after going out of your way to make them miserable for years.

If the only the police chief and the rest of the officers meandering about the Christmas party had agreed.

"He's going to miss most of it?" Her voice sour mood at the thought of going to the annual party lifted a little bit. The chief was still hard to deal with, but not everyone was that bad. She also hadn't really had a lot of time to spend with the boys since they got home for winter break.

"He'll only be there for an hour tops, and by the time he gets there, we'll have the idiot to distract us." Sasuke confirmed. She chewed her lip as she considered what to do. Sasuke apparently got tired of waiting, because he decided for her. "I'm leaving to get you in five minutes."

He hung up before she could offer some sort of sarcastic reply.

Z

"I wouldn't worry too much about him." Sasuke told her as slid into the soft leather passenger seat of his BMW. "You did such a number on his pride, that I doubt he'll come near you." Smugness crept into his voice.

Sakura sighed tiredly, raising her hands to her face to rub her temples as the dull throb of an impending migraine started. She glanced over at her oldest friend to see a tiny, evil little smirk pulling at his lips as he pictured his brother's discomfort.

"I might not have hit him so hard if he hadn't surprised me." Sakura muttered, lightly defending herself from the jab.

"Hm." Sasuke offered the typical laconic Uchiha male reply as he backed out of her driveway so smoothly it was like he had lived there himself for years.

Sakura leaned her head on the window as she watched the familiar scenery of her home town flow by. The memories of their random adventures started coming back to her.

She had missed Konoha and the boys more than anything since she'd gone to college. All three of them had been spread out at different universities and they had been too busy to really keep in touch. They'd seen each other when they came home for breaks, but a week here and three days here wasn't enough time together for them. That's why it kind of felt good to be carrying out their usual Christmas tradition; especially since the crazy, devil cop was hardly going to be there.

Their Christmas tradition had been in place ever since they met in middle school; they'd show up early to the police force's annual Christmas party at the Uchiha's house to help decorate, mingle with Sasuke's relatives until they left, and then they'd pile on the couch to watch Christmas Vacation. It sucked that Naruto was missing the first bit, but at least he would be around for the movie.

Outside of Sakura's window the houses changed from nice, neat middle class houses to absolute mansions, each bigger and prettier than the last. They were on one of the nicest streets in town when Sasuke pulled into his driveway through a set of gates. The Uchiha's were old money and it showed; Sakura couldn't help but think their house could have made it on Cribs. It made Sakura just a teeny, tiny bit jealous on the inside.

"What the hell?" Sasuke muttered as he tapped the breaks a little harder than necessary.

Sakura made a noise of discontent at being yanked out of her thoughts in the back of her throat as she turned to glare at him. Her glare froze when she saw Mister I'm-too-hot-and-aloof-to-show-emotion staring with wide eyes at something through his windshield. She slowly followed his gaze and went stiff in fear when she saw a sleek black Audi parked next to the garage.

"You liar!" She shrieked as she punched him in the arm. He flinched and narrowed his eyes at her.

"I'm not a liar!" He shot back. "Dad said he was working late. I wanted him gone just as much as you did."

"He's going to try to throw me in jail for something stupid. It's going to kill my chances of medical school." She whined. Sasuke sighed as he hit the button to open the garage.

"He's going to pretend you aren't there." He reassured her as he pulled in.

She was still trying to regain control of her facial expression by the time he had killed the engine, gotten out, and made it to the door that led into the family's laundry room. She forced herself to open the door, get out, and join him. Her movements had a stiff quality as her head swam with thoughts of rejection letters from her dream schools because of some stupid trumped up charges by a vindictive cop.

"It'll be fine, Sakura." Annoyance laced his voice as he opened the door and shoved her into the warm house.

The smell of holiday baking filled her nose along with the smell of pine needles and cinnamon. Her muscles relaxed at the comfortable smell of Christmas hit her. Unconsciously, she moved past Sasuke and poked her head in the kitchen to see what was cooking. A split second later, she found herself being pulled into a warm hug that she didn't see coming.

"Oh, Sakura-chan! There you are! I was just about to call to make sure nothing happened to you." The Uchiha matriarch glowed in a fantastically festive red dress with grin spread across her face that made her eyes sparkle. A massive serving tray of pigs in a blanket was balanced on the arm that wasn't being used to pull Sakura into a rib snapping hug.

"I'm so glad to be here. How are you?" She replied with a wooden smile fixed on her face. She wasn't sure how believable it was considering one of her eyes was still twitching.

"I'm doing well." She said as she released her and set the tray down on the garland festooned kitchen table. "Look, Fugaku, Sakura-chan is here." She called over her shoulder into the living room.

Sakura felt herself wilt as she heard Uchiha patriarch and Konoha's chief of police stand up from the couch and slowly make his way over. When he finally appeared in the door way, she had to wrap her arms around her torso to physically restrain herself from doubling over and laughing until she couldn't breathe. A quick glance at Sasuke revealed that he was also struggling to hide a smile.

Mikoto had apparently decided that his favorite teal sweater wasn't festive enough, because a Santa hat was perched at a jaunty angle on the police chief's head. For as long as Sakura had known him, he had always had a stern expression plastered on his face, but tonight his scowl had deepened and his jaw was a little bit more clenched than usual; it was an expression that could make babies cry. If it was possible, his posture had stiffened. He tried to make himself look even more fearsome by arching his eyebrows in an I-dare-you-to-laugh type manner.

"Good evening, sir. I hope you've been doing well." A real smile came over her face as she took in his discomfort.

"Well enough." He answered evenly, glowering at her like he was just daring her to comment.

"Dad, do you mind if we steal your hat a little later? I promised Naruto he could have one." Sasuke asked innocently. The scowl soften slightly as the chief pulled it off and tossed it to him before moving back over to the couch.

"Buttering him up?" Sakura whispered as Mikoto fussed at him for not looking 'Christmas-y' enough now.

"Can't hurt." He muttered back as he reached a hand out towards a bowl of chips on set out of the table.

"Sasuke, don't you dare!" Mikoto snapped at him.

"Hm." He snorted as he pulled his hand back like he had never moved it in the first place.

"You need to change; we only have half an hour." She told him. He nodded and moved towards the stairs. "Sakura, will you go light candles?"

"Sure!"

Glad to have something to do to distract her from the presence of Lucifer himself upstairs, Sakura grabbed a box of matches and got started. Before long, she had done every candle in the kitchen, the bathroom, and the elaborate centerpiece in the middle of their dining room table. She was about to put the box back in the drawer when Mikoto looked up from the dishes she was watching.  
"Did you get the upstairs guest bathroom?" She asked innocently.

"The one next to Itachi's room?" She felt her muscles start to lock up again.

"That's the one!" She replied cheerily.

Shakily nodding a reply, Sakura left and headed for the front stairs in the foyer. They spiraled up to the next floor to a hall that most of the bedrooms were branched off of; Itachi's included. Luckily, because she came this way, she didn't have to walk past his door, which she was sure would be closed.

"Ah, stupid anti-Christ." She muttered when she saw light flooding the hallway from a crack in his door. She couldn't see inside, but he could definitely hear her coming.

She didn't look away from the patch of light as she tried to tiptoe into the dark bathroom. Once she had made it inside and shut the door that led to the hall, she was able to relax. She didn't bother to turn on a light; once the match was lit, she could see just fine. The bathroom was small enough that the flame dancing off the candles illuminated the entire room-and also the fact that Sakura hadn't closed the second door that led into the guest bedroom and it wasn't empty. Her heart leapt into her throat.

Even though the only light in the dimmest bit of candle flame, his form was unmistakable; tall, fairly slim muscular build. The constantly changing firelight showed the beautiful angle of his jaw in a way that would have made Ino squeal. Even without being able to see the rest of his face she was sure his perfect eyebrows were arched elegantly in surprise. It would match the way his nice lips fell open slightly in surprise.

She opened her mouth to form some type of question, but she just ended up looking like a fish. Now that the shock of seeing her was over, his lips pressed together in a thin, stern line like his father's did when he was angry, and his eyes probably narrowed. Finally realizing she looked like an idiot, she clamped her mouth shut and swallowed hard.

"I trust you are doing well." He finally bit out politely as he grabbed a pile of linens that he had apparently just pulled off the bed and swept out the door of the guest bedroom that led into the hall. Sakura listened to see if he was gone, but he walked as lightly as a cat, so instead she counted to a hundred. When that was up, she head back downstairs as fast as she could go.

At least Sasuke was right about one thing; he wanted nothing more to avoid her.

**AN: For some odd reason, I have always wanted to write a Christmas Itachi/Sakura fic. This isn't my best work; especially since this isn't usually my fandom.**

**I'll have the next half out tomorrow. **


End file.
